WiFi Monitoring Tools For Free
Wireless networking from a laptop or other device has become an expected capability of more than just technogeeks in today's world. For business travelers, college students, and many mobile small businesses it's become something of a neccessity.
But how do you find the nearest "connection spot" when you're out and about? Even more .... how do determine what you need to know so to ensure you'll get a quality connection?
To help those in need (or just curious) here's a few free tools available to the public that should satisfy even the most discriminating Techie ......
The Xirrus Wi-Fi Inspector is a powerful tool for managing and troubleshooting the Wi-Fi on a Windows XP or Vista laptop. Built in tests enable you to characterize the integrity and performance of your Wi-Fi connection.
Applications include:
- Searching for Wi-Fi networks
- Managing and troubleshooting Wi-Fi connections
- Verifying Wi-Fi coverage
- Locating Wi-Fi devices
- Detecting rogue APs
The Xirrus Wi-Fi Monitor allows you to monitor your Wi-Fi environment and connection in real time from your desktop in an easy-to-use mini-application. Nine different color skins allow you customize the Wi-Fi Monitor to your desktop.
Applications include:
- Searching for Wi-Fi networks
- Verifying Wi-Fi coverage
- Displaying laptop Wi-Fi settings
- Detecting rogue APs
- Education on Wi-Fi
inSSIDer is an award-winning free Wi-Fi network scanner for Windows Vista and Windows XP. Because NetStumbler doesn't work well with Vista and 64-bit XP, they built an open-source Wi-Fi network scanner designed for the current generation of Windows operating systems.
Applications include:
- Inspect your WLAN and surrounding networks to troubleshoot competing access points.
- Use Windows Vista and Windows XP 64-bit.
- Uses the Native Wi-Fi API.
- Track the strength of received signal in dBm over time.
- Filter access points in an easy to use format.
- Highlight access points for areas with high Wi-Fi concentration.
- Group by Mac Adress, SSID, Channel, RSSI, and time "last seen."
There are of course more free WiFi tools out there .... you're welcome to Google for them. But the above are two of the most popular and useful you'll find anywhere.
Labels: WiFi Coverage, WiFi Monitor, WiFi Search, WiFi Tool